voxangelikus

And what do I get to look forward to? A full season of non-existent, sloppy defense? Strings of games without a win or without more than 1 or two goals a game? Chico pumping me full of how great they are almost playing?

Status quo is the last thing I want to hear as a fan. It's like admitting defeat out of one side of your mouth while out the other side you have the audacity to talk about the possibility of making the playoffs this season.

This team is playing with no heart and no desire and no passion. It's being coached the same way. That's the status quo for some teams, but it has never been for the Devils and there is no reason that should be any different now.

I'm not bashing Marty, but what's the point of signing Hedberg to that big contract? Just to lure Kovalchuk because the guy liked the Moose when they were in Atlanta? On these back to back nights, Hedberg should be getting one of the starts. The past three years, every time I expect Brodeur to sit when they play back-to-back, he plays. He's not Marty from 15, 10 or even 5 years ago. Rest the guy occasionally.

Kovy or no Kovy, I think that the most important thing for the Devils to make sure they lock up Parise. Having Kovalchuk is definitely awesome. You won't hear me hating on having Kovalchuk on the roster. But having Parise long term is also very important. Parise has proven he will play his a** off and give 110% on the ice. Kovalchuk has high skill levels, but will he push as hard as Parise?

What I've been curious about throughout this whole free agency period is just how much Lou is being pressured by Jeff Vanderbeek to land Kovalchuk. They have been losing money every year they don't get past the first round and keeping Kovalchuk's services for the future would be key to bringing in profits. Would ownership see jeopardizing a future with Parise worth landing a guy like Kovalchuk? It would signal a change in the archetype that Lamoriello has set in place - team over individual. Maybe now that Brodeur is reaching the end of the line, the owners want to shift to offense, which Kovalchuk can definitely bring.

Let the Kings have him. At least he's not in-division where you have to see him all season.

Besides, Kovalchuk now and Kovalchuk ten years from now are two entirely different animals. He's always one hit, one knee twist, one concussion away from getting paid big bucks to watch from the sidelines. Dean Lombardi can ask the Islanders how that feels.

What the Devils need to do is retain their dignity, tell Kovalchuk to have fun being a party boy in L.A., and get Zach Parise locked up long-term and prove to him that they're serious about having him represent the future of the franchise. Then go out and get a decent goal-scorer to compliment the two excellent d-men that have already been picked up this offseason.

Personally, I'd love to see Simon Gagne scoring goals for us against the Flyers rather than the other way around, but can a Devs/Flyers trade happen? I'm sure there are other options out there, either via trade or free agency, that will allow us to lock up Parise and still build our firepower considerably. It's the Tao of Lou.

You know.... I'm not making fun of the Islanders when I say this, because they do have a good core of young players.... but seriously, they've been near winning something for a few years now and every year is a similar result: Isles sit back out of contention and watch the Devils, Penguins, Flyers and Rangers jockey for postseason position. Adding Kovalchuk makes them a lower-seed Eastern Conference playoff team - the same situation Kovy was in playing for the Thrashers.

On top of that you're talking about a team with a garbage arena that could end up leaving the tri-state area because they can't get a new arena built. So if Kovy wants to end up in a similar situation to the one he was in playing for the Thrash, then the Isles offer is perfection. But he wants to win a Cup. And it's important to him where he plays (according to interviews he has given). LA or NJ offers stability (as neither team is in danger of moving) and consistency, as the Kings are far closer to becoming Cup contenders than the Isles, and the Devils are a full season of Kovalchuk away from getting out of the first round. (Maybe).

There are only a few third jerseys that look decent: Minnesota's third jersey was nice, as is the new St. Louis third jersey. Some of the Vintage jerseys that teams like Buffalo and Pittsburgh have brought back look good, too *but mainly because they are the actual jerseys that the teams used to wear*.

But if the Devils did a Vintage third jersey, that would mean the return of the green and red. When we were green and red, the team was awful. When we went to black and red, we got better. Why ruin a good thing?

Should Sweet Lou decide that a third jersey was in order, however, I think they should keep everything the same, only instead of red or white as the main color, use black, similar to the practice jersey available at the Devil's Den.